Refrigeration apparatus



Feb. 27,1940. HEATH 2,191,715

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1937 INVENTOR. .2641? ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 27, 1940 REFRIGERATION. APPARATUS Delos' P. Heath, .Hillsdale, Mich. Application July 10,. 1927. Serial No. 152,891

' 5 Claims.

This invention relates in general to containers for liquid and in particular to trays for ice mak- 2. ing or dessert freezing employed in domestic.-

refrigerators.

removal of ice from the tray.

It is an object to provide a low cost tray of I simple construction that can beoperated by an,

"average householder. I

It is anobject to provide amore sanitary construction for a liquid freezing container that is b v readily cleaned.

It is an object to provide a tray that will automatically free itself from ice cubes during the freezing process.

It is an object to provide a low cost, simple and strong traylifting device. In the drawing:

lifting deviceshown dotted.

Fig. 2 is a perspective of the metallic sides and bottom members of the tray with lifter shown dotted.

Fig. 3 is aperspective view of the flexible tray ends fixed together by the flexible ice cube partitions.

Fig. 4 is a part plan view of a modification of Fig. 1 tray end.

to the tray sides and bottom.

Like numerals refer to like parts.

Numeral I, Fig. 1, indicates ametallic sheet possessing qualities of resisting corrosion and ability to transfer heat by conduction and to withstand temporary deformation without attaining a permanent set. I prefer using a thin sheet of stainless steel or aluminum of spring like This sheet may be formed in a press or brake to provide tray side wall portions, '5, tray flat bottom portion, 6, between the side 'walls, and if desired, tray rails l5 which are a properties.

continuation of the side walls 5.

End Walls 4, seal to l to form tray end walls. Ends 4' and their connecting wall 2 and ice cube partitions 3, I may mold as shown in Figure 3 from a flexible, elastic, waterproof material that has the property of easily freeing itself from ice. I may employ gum rubber or an artificial rubber Thedistance apart between the inside of ends 4, in the unassembled view, Fig. 3, is slightly less than the distance between the opposite edges II, of the such as Neoprene, for this purpose.

It is an object to provide an ice cube freezing tray that will allow quick freezing of ice and easy Fig. 1 is a plan view of the traywith the tray sheet metal bottom and side wall element of Fig;

The connecting wall 2 is capable of being stretched to allow ends 4 to be dropped over the edges II. The ends 4' are somewhat more rigid than 2 but are flexible enough to adapt themselves to the edges of 'l I and under the tension of 2, to 'seal watertight to H against the hydraulic pressure exerted by fluids placed in'the tray 1 An inwardly projecting collar or collars l3 at the tops or other portions of the ends 4, shoulder 1-0 against the top or other portions of sidewall 5 and/or bottom 6 to assist in positioning 'ends' 4 and'also to reinforce'4 and distribute the pull of 2.

U-shaped lifting wire It! has its ends loosely I6 looped through holes I at the rear end of Land its front mid portion l6 servesasa handle .for the ice tray and as a lever working in the vertical plane to break the tray'from the ice upon the'tray. shelf. Downward pressure upon l6 causesit's cam formed portions 9 to exert upward pressure upon rails l5 and downward pressure upon ice tray shelf l8 which is contacted by 9 while freezing ice. This action releases the rear end of the ice tray, and an upward pull of i6 breaks the front end loose from 18.

In Fig. 4, modification, I have shown integral lips l2 projecting from 4 to assist in sealing 4 to edges II. I may also employ these lips to seal along the inside of the sides 5 and bottom 6 as shown by dotted lines.

It will be understood that the elastic member 2 exerting sealing pressure upon the ends 4, may also be constructed of a rigid material having an axial hole extending longitudinally through 2 and enclosing spring means attached to the end walls 19. Fig. 5 such a spring means is indicated by the dotted line in the wall 2|. Also I may provide a spring means exterior to the side walls 5 to exert sealing tension upon the ends Hi. This means is shown in Fig. 5 by elements I4 which may be metallic springs or elastic material such as rubber. The ends IS in Fig. 5 are reinforced by inserted material 22 molded into the softer material forming the sealing portion of end 4. The assembly of Fig.5 allows ends Hi to be easily removed and permits the use of metallic ice cube grids which will reduce the freezing time required with rubber grid.

To provide the ice cube tray Fig. l with automatic ice cube freezing means, I mold wall 2 with a bottom longitudinal section less than its top longitudinal section as shown in Fig. 1 and fabricate portions 3 in a simiar manner. Metallic sheet I is cut and flrmrd to bring the opposite edges H at bottom 6 farther'apart than the tops of the opposite edges ll of sides 5. The bottoms of ends 4 when assembled with sheet I then project outwardly as shown by dotted lines ll, Fig. 1.

In operation, end 4 is placed over edges II at one end of sheet I. The connecting wall 2 is then stretched and the other end 4 is released against the other end of sheet I with projection l3 resting upon the top of side walls 5. The watertight tray thus formed, is filled with water toa level of approximately one-eighth inch below the top of Wall 2. Because bottom 6 and sides 5 are an integral metallic sheet and 6 is in direct heat conducting contact with the evaporator ice tray' shelf l8, ice cubes are more rapidly made than in trays with rubber bottoms. As the ice expands during freezing, pressure is exerted upon the side walls 5, bottom 6, ends 4, connecting walls 2, and Because 2 and Q and 3.

ice cube partitions 3. I are tapered the longitudinal stresses setup by the ice forced the grid with its ends 4 upwardly.

Water leaks do not occur as this upward move-.

ment of 2, 3 and 4' only takes place whererthe liquid has experienced a change of state.

To bring the bottom edges of the ends 4 clear of the tray shelf it it will be noted that in Fig. 5 are shown the depressions 2!! which are flat to provide sufficient area to contact with l8 to rapidly conduct heat, and are of sufficient depth to raise ends 4 above l8.

There are, many manufacturing advantages in this construction. For example it will be noted that structure i of Fig. 2 may be rolled from strip stock and individual tray sections sawed off to whatever length desired.

' I claim:

1. In a, refrigerating apparatus, an ice freezing tray'comprising a fiat metallic bottom, extending upwardly at opposite sides to form side walls, a rubber ice cube forming element adapted to seal 3. In a refrigerating apparatus, an ice tray bot- I torn having side walls on opposite sides formed from a single metallic sheet, 'removableend walls adapted to seal against said 'metallicsheet in watertight relationship, spring means to exert sealing pressure upon said end walls, said metallic sheet and said end walls adapted to freeze ice cubes in a domestic refrigerator.

4. In a refrigerating apparatus an ice freezing tray having a single metallic sheet for the tray bottom and the tray side walls, removable end Walls adapted to seal'water tight against the front and rear edges of'said-bottom and side walls, and a U shaped wire member having its I ends looped through holes in the upper and rear portions of said sheet and extencling'exteriorly along the said side walls and around the front of I said tray.

5. In a refrigerating apparatus, an ice cube freezing tray having a single metallic sheet for tray bottom and tray side walls, removable end walls adapted to seal against the edges of said bottom and said side walls in water tight relationship to'provide a container for the freezing of ice, tension means exterior to the space bounded by said container walls, said tension means adapted to provide the pressure required to seal said end walls to'the edges of said bottom and said side walls.

DELOS P. HEATH. m 

